Lane Transit District has received the final piece of funding from the federal government for the West Eugene Em-X Expansion. The Federal Transportation Administration has apportioned the remaining $50.54 million needed to continue the project. LTD Director of Customer Services Andy Vobora says they were fortunate to get the funding they requested because there is a lot of competition at the federal level.
Vobora: "We knew that it was coming and so we could be patient. But at this point where we are starting construction, it is good news again that we have access to all of the funding, not only the federal share, but the state funds that were used to match those federal dollars are all now in place. So the project is 100% funded at this point at the point we're starting construction, so things are coming together very well."
Vobora says there are legal challenges LTD is dealing with. One lawsuit disputing the environmental process has been appealed. Vobora expects that suit to be resolved in the next few months and doesn't anticipate it will affect construction.
copyright, 2015 KLCC